Am I weak, or am I strong? Gaara love story
by Hatake Yuko
Summary: Gaara gets in contact with his old childhood friend, but she's not the same person she once was. She has changed. What happened to her? Gaara X OC An OC appears in this story that are from my Naruto story
1. Chapter 1: Meeting again

**Chapter 1: Meeting again**

_"Nooo! Aijou!"_

_"Stay here! There's nothing you can do now!"  
_  
_"But Gaara, my sister… she's dying because of me!"_

_"It's too late now."_

_"Aijou!"  
_  
I sat up in my bed fast, breathing heavy and sweat was all over my body. I keep dreaming about my sister's death and this time Gaara showed up in my dream too. I got out of my bed, walked over to the mirror and looked at the picture of my twin sister, Aijou. "God I miss you sis. I really hope you are okay wherever you are." I whispered as I looked at the picture and touched it gently with my fingertips, as if it would break into pieces if I touched it too hard. I walked to the bathroom to take a shower. I turned on the water, undressed and went under the water and enjoyed feeling the water hitting my face and body.

I once again started to think of my sister and it brought me to tears. I'm so sorry Aijou. I was supposed to look after you, but instead I ended up killing you. I wiped the tears from my eyes, finished the shower, quickly dried my body and wrapped the towel around me before I walked out of the bathroom and back to my room. I took out my work outfit from my closet and put it on just before it knocked on my door. "Come in." I turned around and looked towards the door as it opened and my mother stepped inside and looked at me with sleepy eyes. "Aren't you up a little early? The time is only 5:00 am."

"Well, I couldn't sleep. So I decided to just get up and go to work."

"I see. I guess you dreamed about Aijou again?" I nodded and felt the tears fill my eyes once again. My mother walked over to me and hugged me comforting. "It's okay Yume."

"No mom, it's not okay. Four years has passed since I killed Aijou, and I'm still as sad as I was that day." My mother pulled a bit back from the hug and looked at me with a furious look. "Yume, you didn't kill your sister! We all know that it was the monster Gaara who did it!" I pushed my mother away from me and shook my head violently. "No! I killed her! You weren't there, so you don't know what happened!" I looked at my mother with my tear filled eyes. "Kazuyama Yume! I won't hear another word about that from your mouth! You are obviously protecting the monster and I don't want to hear that in MY house!" I looked over at the door as I heard footsteps and saw my father entering my room, looking at me and my mother with a raised eyebrow. "What's going on in here Midori?" He asked my mother as he walked over to her. "Hisashi… Your daughter is protecting the monster. She keeps saying it was her who killed Aijou and not him!" My father shook his head slightly and looked over at me as he rubbed his forehead. "Yume. We've had this conversation so many times now."

"I know dad, but you won't listen to me! It wasn't Gaara who killed Aijou, I did!" My mother grabbed my arms, rather hard actually, and shook me. "Stop it! I won't hear another word from you, saying you killed your sister! And I definitely won't hear that monsters name in my house!" The tears went down my cheeks and I got my arms twisted out of my mother's tight grip. "I'm going to work!" I ran out of my room and ran into something hard and solid, but yet soft, and fell to the floor. I looked up to see I had ran into my elder brother, Yoshiro. "Watch out where you are going Yume."

"S-sorry Yoshiro." I wiped my tears as I sobbed and my brother squatted in front of me. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing…" He wiped some of the tears too and helped me up from the floor. "Tell me while I walk you to the hospital, okay?" I looked at my brother and sobbed lightly. "You don't have to follow me to work."

"I know. But I do it because you are my dear and precious sister, and you are obviously very sad about something." He said and gave me a soft smile. "Okay, thank you Yoshi. What are you doing up this early anyways?" I asked with curiosity and tilted my head a bit to the side. "I'm going to meet with my students. We're going to the Kazekage's office to get a mission." I nodded understanding. We both left the house and headed for the hospital, where I work, and I started to tell him what happened between me, mom and dad. "Oh… I see. Well, there's nothing to do about it."

"But it wasn't Gaara who killed Aijou. I did that." Yoshiro nodded and sighed. "But you are never going to make them believe in that. They don't like the thought that is was you who killed Aijou."

"They have to face reality."

"I know that, but they won't believe it. Especially because you said that you had transformed into a weird creature. None of us have ever seen you transform before." Yoshiro and I stopped up when we reached the entrance to the hospital. "Yume. You are a strong person. You have all five chakra natures, which is pretty rare. You are special. What happened to my sister, who used to be so confident, tough, strong, lively, funny and happy?" I sighed silently and looked at my brother. "She died the same day as Aijou died." Yoshiro nodded slightly, grabbed my wrists and pulled me in for a comforting hug. "Hey, cheer up. Don't be so sad on your 17 years birthday." I looked up at Yoshiro with a confused look on my face. "What do you mean? My birthday is on the 13th of July."

"Yume, it is the 13th of July today." I blinked a couple of times and took in what my brother just said. "Oh my god… how could I forget my own birthday?!... I'm sure mom and dad forgot it too."

"Why do you think that?"

"They forgot it last year… and the year before that…" Yoshiro nodded and for some reason guilt flashed over his face for a moment. "Oh… okay… But I have to go now, have a nice day sis. See you later." He kissed my forehead and gave me a soft smile as he walked away. I walked inside the hospital and went to the staff's cafeteria to get something to eat. I wasn't really that hungry, so I just took some fruit and sat down by a table. I can't believe that Yoshiro has become a jonin, and now has his own team. He is only 21 years old. I leaned back in the chair and thought of the days when I was a ninja.

Aijou and I became chunins pretty fast. We both passed the chunin exam when we were 8. I sighed sadly and opened my eyes when a shadow figure appeared above me. I smiled lightly when I saw it was my best friend, Aiko. "Hey Yume. Aren't you here a bit early today?" I got up from the chair and hugged her tight. "I couldn't stand to be at home anymore… Aren't you here pretty early yourself? Your shift doesn't start until noon." Aiko giggled and hugged me back. "I couldn't let my best friend be alone on her birthday, could I?" I got really happy when Aiko said that. She remembered my birthday, and I hugged her tighter. "Hey, hey, hey. Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just happy that two people remembered my birthday." I let go of Aiko and a few tears escaped my eyes and ran down my cheeks. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" I sat down on the chair again and Aiko sat down next to me. "My mom and dad forgot my birthday again… Ever since Aijou died, it's like I'm nothing to them anymore. Every time I try to tell them the truth about Aijou's death, they just start yelling at me and they still blame it all on Gaara." Aiko nodded understanding and laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Is that why you are here this early today?" I looked at Aiko and nodded and wiped the tears from my eyes. "I see. Well, let's help some people and make you forget about this, and tonight I will take you to your favorite restaurant, my treat."

"You're so sweet Aiko." She smiled at me and hugged me again. "That's what best friends are for, right? Besides, you are my most precious friend." I smiled softly at Aiko as we got up from the chairs and went to start our shift.

As the time got 4:00 pm, our shift ended and we met up at the entrance to the hospital. "I'll go home and take a shower and get ready. I'll come and pick you up at 6:00 pm, okay?" I looked at Aiko and nodded understanding. "Okay, see you there." We both left the hospital to go home and get ready. I was walking, looking down at the ground because I was silently crying, so I hide my face from people who passed me. I accidently bumped into someone and fell on my butt. "I'm so sorry… I wasn't looking where I was going." I looked up slowly, so that my hair would still cover my face, which was tear stained. My eyes widened slightly as I saw who I had bumped into. It was Gaara. I had bumped into Gaara. Temari and Kankuro were standing on each side of him. Gaara seemed to have noticed that my eyes widened, but he didn't seem to care about it. His gaze traveled from my face to my hand. "Your hand."

"Huh?" I looked confused at him from behind my hair. "Your hand, it is bleeding." I followed his gaze down to my hand and realized he was right. My hand was bleeding. It had landed on some broken glass when I fell to the ground. I removed my hand from the broken glass and started to heal it immediately. Gaara bend forward and removed my hair from my face. He looked at me closely as if he was examining my face. "You are crying… and it can't be from that small wound." I looked at Gaara, and since he had removed my hair from my face, I could see him more clearly now.

My heart skipped a few beats as I looked closely at him. Is that really Gaara?... Oh my god. "Uhm… it's nothing. I'm sorry that I bumped into you." I kept looking at him as I was healing my hand as I got up from the ground. "Again, I'm so sorry I bumped into you, but I have to go now, I'm busy." I gave him a soft smile as I ran off, still healing my hand. As I came home, I quickly took the shower and went to my room to get dressed. My mother and father entered my room as I had just put my clothes on. "Why are you in such a hurry?" I looked over at my father and put my hair in a loose ponytail. "Aiko is coming in five minutes. She's taking me to my favorite restaurant." My mother and father looked at each other and then back at me. "Why is she taking you there? It's not like it's a special day… oh my god… are you lesbian?" I looked at my mother with widened eyes and a slightly shocked expression. "Hell no!"

"Then what is it?" My father asked me with a raised eyebrow. "It's my birthday for god's sake!" I looked from my mother to my father and then back to my mother. They suddenly looked guilty. "We are so, so sorry darling. Can you forgive-…"

"No!" I yelled and cut my mother off. They looked shocked when I suddenly yelled. "What do you mean, no?"

"I can't forgive you… Ever since Aijou died, you two have forgotten my birthday every year."

"Yume, we are so, so sorry… it's just that… we… uhm…" I shook my head and the tears ran down my cheeks yet again. "You can't even explain yourselves. How much time is left before you forget about me?!" I ran out of my room and left the house before they even got a chance to say something to me. I saw Aiko ahead of me and hurried up to her. I grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from my home. "Hey, hey, hey. Are we in a hurry?"

"Yes we are! I don't want to be here anymore!"

"Yume, what happened?" Aiko asked as I slowed down and looked at her with teary eyes. "Oh sweetie…" I didn't have to answer Aiko's question. She knew why I was crying and she hugged me comforting before we went to the restaurant.


	2. Chapter 2: Moving out

**Chapter 2: Moving out**

When Aiko and I finished at the restaurant, we went directly to her apartment. I didn't want to go back home. There's no reason for me to live in a house where I'm not wanted. We went inside Aiko's bedroom and she lend me a pj's to sleep in. "Aiko, I don't want to live at home anymore. My parents won't listen to me when I tell them the truth about Aijou's death, they forget my birthday and soon they will forget who I am. The only good thing about my home is Yoshiro." Aiko hugged me and rubbed my back comforting. "If you want to, you can stay here with me."

I smiled lightly and hugged her back. "Thank you Aiko. You're an angel" Aiko giggled lightly and pulled from the hug. "Let's get some sleep now, okay? You really need it after this day." I nodded and lay down in Aiko's bed, close to the wall and window. Aiko lay down next to me and we both pulled our blankets over us. Luckily she had an extra blanket and pillow. "Aiko… Before we go to sleep, there's something I want to tell you."

"And what is that?" I rolled over on my right side to face Aiko. "Today, I met Gaara… or actually, I bumped into him." Aiko's eyes widened just slightly. "Oh my god. Did he recognize you?"

"I'm not sure about that, 'cause he didn't mention my name. But he did remove my hair from my face and looked closely at me as if he was examining my face." A grin spread across Aiko's face. "I think he recognized you."

"You think so?"

"Why else would he examine your face?" I shrugged and rolled over on my back to look at the ceiling. "I don't know… He has changed since last time I saw him."

"When was that?" I looked at Aiko and raised my eyebrow, giving her the 'really?' look. "Oops, sorry. I just forgot Gaara was at the same mission where Aijou died."

"It's okay." I said and looked back up at the ceiling. "So, how has he changed?" I smiled for a moment when I thought of Gaara. "You know how he has been known as a monster who kills anyone who gets in his way."

"Yeah, what about that?"

"When I bumped into him, I fell and cut my hand on some glass, but for some reason, I didn't felt the cut. It was him who told me my hand was bleeding. I started to heal my hand and it was then he looked at me. When I apologized for bumping into him, he said it was okay. The old Gaara would have killed me instantly."

"That's a good thing he has changed like that."

"Yeah. But it's not just his personality that has changed. His looks has changed as well. His eyes… his jaw line… his face in general…" I looked at Aiko as I heard her giggle. She was looking at me with a devious grin. "What?"

"Yume, you are so much in love with Gaara." My eyes widened slightly and I felt my cheeks getting warm. "Why do you think that?"

"The way you were talking about his face… and the fact that you're blushing." I stayed quiet for a moment and looked at the ceiling again. I'm not in love with Gaara, am I? I looked back at Aiko. "I don't know if I'm in love with Gaara, it's just… I used to play with him on the playground when I was six years old, but in secret of course. My parents would kill me if they knew I was playing with Gaara."

"You seriously played with Gaara when you were six years old?" I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, we were having a good time together. We played ball, hide and seek, sat on the swings and played other games. He actually became my best friend."

"What happened then?" I sighed as I sat up and looked out the window. "Aijou saw me with Gaara one day and of course, she told it to mom and dad. They came to the playground and dragged me with them home. They yelled at me and scolded me for being near 'the monster'. They grounded me for almost two months and told me never to see Gaara again." I looked at Aiko as I felt her hand on my shoulder. "It sounded like you and Gaara had a great time together."

"We had. I think he thought I had become like everyone else in the village, since I didn't played with him anymore. I felt so bad and sorry for him. I really wanted to tell him that my parents had forbidden me to ever see him again, but years passed and he turned into the blood thirsty monster we all know. I actually got a bit scared of him, but not as much as everyone else in the village." Aiko nodded understanding and gave me one of her soft smiles. "Cheer up Yume. Maybe you'll become friends again. When you see him again, try and talk to him. Tell him what happened eleven years ago."

"Yeah… I'll try." I said as I lay back down and closed my eyes. "Goodnight Aiko."

"Night Yume." Aiko said and lie down next to me. I didn't fall asleep right away. I couldn't stop thinking of Gaara and how he has changed.

I woke up the next morning to the delicious scent of eggs, bacon and… pancakes? I got out of the bed and made my way to the kitchen while rubbing my eyes. "Morning Yume." I looked at Aiko and smiled sleepy at her. "Morning Aiko… are you making breakfast?" I asked as I sat down on a chair. "Yup. I'm making your favorite. Eggs, bacon and pancakes."

"Aiko, you're the best." She smiled brightly at me and looked towards the front door when we both heard a knock. "Can you take over the cooking while I open the door?"

"Yeah, sure." I got up from the chair and went to the stove while Aiko went to the front door. I heard some mumbling from the front door, but didn't give it a thought, since I was cooking. "Hey. I'm sorry I didn't come home last night." I turned around when I heard a familiar voice and smiled brightly when I saw my brother. "Yoshi!" He chuckled lightly as he walked over to me and hugged me. "What happened last night? When I came home, you weren't there." I hugged back and clung to Yoshiro's shirt. "Mom and dad happened."

"What did they do now?" He asked and rubbed my back. I sat down on a chair as Aiko came back inside the kitchen to continue making the breakfast. "It's simple Yoshi… they forgot my birthday. They wanted me to forgive them for forgetting my birthday every year since Aijou died, but I said no. I can't forgive them for forgetting about me. When they wanted to explain why they have been forgetting my birthday, they had no explanation at all. I don't want to live at home anymore Yoshi. It's only a matter of time before they forget who I am." Yoshiro squatted in front of me and stroke my cheek. "Yume. I don't think they will forget who you are. You are their daughter."  
"It doesn't feel like that… I'm moving in with Aiko." Yoshiro nodded understanding. "When are you moving?"

"I'm going to get my stuff as soon as mom and dad aren't home."

"Let me help you then. I only wish for my precious little sister to be happy." I smiled lightly and hugged him. "Thank you Yoshi."

"You're welcome. Listen, mom and dad are going to visit an old friend later today at 1:00 pm. We can do it there." I nodded understanding and hugged him tighter. "I will help you as well." I looked over at Aiko and smiled. "Thank you Aiko. But first, let's eat some breakfast. I'm starving." Aiko nodded agreeing and put the breakfast on the table.

As the time got 1:00 pm, the three of us went home to get my stuff. Not all of it of course. Just my most important things, such as my clothes, pictures, working files and my books. We finished getting my stuff after two and a half hours. We put my clothes in the bedroom and the rest of my stuff in the living room. I turned and looked at Yoshiro with a smile. "Thank you so much for helping me Yoshi." He smiled at me and gave me a tight hug. "You're welcome sis. Promise me I can come and visit you sometimes, right?"

"You can come and visit your sister whenever you want Yoshiro." Both Yoshiro and I looked at Aiko with a smile. "Thank you Aiko." We both said in unison. "I have to go again Yume. Mom and dad will be home soon." I nodded understanding and kept hugging him. "What do I say if mom and dad ask about you?"

"You tell them the truth. That I moved out."

"Okay. See you some other time sis."

"See you Yoshi." He kissed my forehead and gave me a smile as he left the apartment. I raised my arms over my head and stretched as I looked at Aiko. "I'll take a nap. I have night shift tonight."

"Okay, sleep tight." I smiled at Aiko as I passed her on my way to the bedroom. I dropped myself down on the bed and snuggled under the blanket as I slowly drifted off into sleep.

I was at the hospital, looking through my list of patients when I heard footsteps running towards me. I looked up from the papers to see Hikaru running full speed towards me. Once he reached me, he stopped up and leaned against the wall as he tried to catch his breath. "Yume, I need your help with something."  
"What is it this time Hikaru?" He scratched the back of his head and gave me a sheepish smile. "Ehe, you see uhm… Temari is here and she's injured. It's not because I don't want to help her, but… Gaara is here too." I raised my eyebrow and gave him a weird look. "So?"

"I'm scared of him. He could kill me if I hurt his sister."

"I still don't see why you ask me and not one of the other doctors."

"Well, I know how strong you are, so I was thinking you would have a chance to defend yourself against Gaara if something went wrong." I sighed and shook my head as I rubbed my forehead. "Okay fine. But if I die, I'm going to haunt you forever."

"Thank you so much Yume, I knew I could count on you! They are in the emergency room." Hikaru smiled at me and ran off again. I shook my head as I made my way to the emergency room. Seriously, that Hikaru always rubs it on me when there's a patient he doesn't want. I have to say no to him some day, 'cause I have my own patients to think of. I knocked on the door before I went inside and saw Temari lying on the bed while Kankuro was holding a pressure against her thigh. "What happened?" I asked as I walked closer to Temari. "I got injured during some training. Where did the doctor go?"

"Oh you mean Hikaru? He's not really a doctor, he's a nurse. I'm a doctor so let me take a look at it. Can you move your hands from the wound please?" I asked Kankuro. He did as I asked and the blood started to flow out of the wound. "Get your hands back on the wound and press down while I get some towels and bandages." Kankuro nodded and put his hands back on her thigh and pressed down. I went to a closet, grabbed two towels, some bandage and went back to Temari. I put the towels on each side of Temari's thigh, pushed Kankuro's hands aside and started to heal Temari's thigh.

"You can wash your hands in the sink over there." I said and used my head to point at the sink. "Thanks." Kankuro said and walked to the sink. "Ouch. It hurts." Temari said and winced. "I know that, but it's a deep wound and I have to stop the bleeding." I said as I increased the healing. I could see that Gaara was looking at me from the corner of my eye, but I had to focus on stopping the bleeding. "Hey doctor, can I ask you what your name is?" Temari asked me. I don't know why, but I could sense a smirk coming from her. "My name is Kazuyama Yume." I answered and kept my eyes on the wound. "This is going to hurt Temari. I have to stop the bleeding."

"Okay." I increased the healing to stop the bleeding, making Temari flinch lightly. As I finished healing her thigh, I washed it from blood and wrapped the bandage around it. "There you go Temari. Make sure to rest your thigh for a couple of days. And be a little more careful next time you train." Temari nodded and slowly got off the bed. "Thank you Yume."

"You're welcome." I said with a smile and watch her leave with Kankuro and Gaara. I removed the bloody towels and sheets from the bed and went towards the door. As I left the room I bumped into someone and landed on my butt on the floor. I looked up to see I had bumped into Gaara, again. "I'm so sorry, again… Why are you still here? I thought you left with Temari and Kankuro?" I asked as I got up from the floor. I looked into Gaara's eyes and felt my heart skip several beats. Wow… he has become so… so… "Uhm, I have to go to the laundry room with these." I said, holding the bloody sheets and towels. Gaara grabbed my arm as I passed him. I turned around and looked at him. "Thank you for healing Temari."

"You're welcome. It's my job." I said and smiled softly at him. He was still holding my arm. "I mean it. When we entered the hospital, everyone just passed us as they saw me. It really annoyed Temari, so she just yelled at some random guy to help her. He followed us to a room, ran off and then you came. You started to help Temari as if… if…"  
"If you were a normal person?" Gaara nodded slightly and looked me in the eyes, making me blush just faintly. "I love my job. I won't let a person down who needs help, no matter who it is." He nodded understanding and let go of my arm. "I have to go again. Once again thank you for healing Temari." He turned around and left the hospital.

I went to the laundry room, threw the sheets and the towels in the washing machine and started it. I can't believe that Gaara talked to me. Did he really recognize me after all? I went inside one of the staff toilets, went to the sink and threw some water in my face. I took in some deep breaths and looked at myself in the mirror. I need to do something about my looks. My hair needs a haircut, my wardrobe could use an update and I wouldn't die to wear just a bit make-up. When I get home, and I've gotten some sleep, I'm going to ask Aiko if she wants to help me go shopping. I gave myself a soft smile in the mirror and left the toilet again to check on my patients.


	3. Chapter 3: Thank you, again

**Chapter 3: Thank you, again.**

I woke up from my nap after getting home from my night shift. I stretched and looked at the clock with sleepy eyes. 12:00 pm. That means I have only slept for about 6 hours. "Urgh…" I sat up and rubbed my eyes as I got out of the bed and went to the living room, where Aiko was sitting on the couch. She turned around when she heard me enter the living room and smiled. "Hey Yume. How was your night shift?" I sat down next to Aiko on the couch and smiled brightly when I remembered that Gaara touched my arm. "Yume, you're smiling. Something good must have happened."

"Well, Hikaru did what he always does when he doesn't want a patient, rubs it off on me. It turned out that the patient was Temari, and Gaara was there as well. After I had healed Temari, Gaara stayed behind and thanked me for helping Temari. I might as well think he thanked me for not treating him like most anyone else in the village does, as a monster." Aiko smiled brightly at me. "Well, you are one of the only ones in the village who isn't completely afraid of him and who dares speak to him."  
"You think so Aiko?"

"I don't think it, I know it. Every time a person in the village sees Gaara they ignore him. Two days ago you bumped into Gaara and just stayed there and spoke to him. Had that been anyone else, they would have run away as fast as possible."

"Hmm… you're probably right Aiko. But I seriously can't see why people are so afraid of him. He's actually really kind." I said with a smile and blushed faintly. "Heh, Yume you're blushing again."

"I know, I know." I said and giggled. "Hey Aiko, you're not going to work today, are you?"  
"No I'm not, why?"

"Do you want to go and do some shopping with me? I need some new clothes and a haircut." Aiko looked at me with a really surprised and shocked expression, like she didn't expect to hear that coming from my mouth. "Aiko, is something wrong?"

"No, I just didn't expect to hear that from you. You haven't got any new clothes or a haircut for ages, so it came as a surprise." I smiled lightly at Aiko and held her hand. "Well, I don't really know what's going on. Since Aijou died, I haven't spoiled myself or been very good to myself, but since I met Gaara again it's like the person I was before Aijou's death, want to come back." Aiko smiled widely and pulled me in for a hug. "I'm so happy to hear that. I have really missed the old Yume."

"So does that mean you want to go with me?" Aiko pulled away from the hug and held me in an arm's length. "Of course I want to go with you! You don't have to ask me that again." She said and smiled brightly. "We can go now and take some lunch in the village, what do you say about that?" I smiled lightly and nodded. "I would like that Aiko. Come, let's go." I said as I hurried up from the couch and rushed to the door. I was a bit eager to go shopping with my best friend.

"How would you like your hair to be done?" The hairdresser asked me, looking at me in the mirror. "I would like it to be short, about shoulder length and with different levels in it. And I would like to get my hair color freshened up too." The hairdresser nodded understanding and started to cut in my hair. I looked at the long locks of hair that was cut off and fell to the floor. It was a bit sad to see the long, but boring, locks of hair getting cut off. But I could take this as a new beginning of a new me. "You're very brave Yume." Aiko said, making me look at her in the mirror. "I am? Why?"

"You have always liked your waist long hair, and now you're getting it cut to shoulder length."

"Well, at least I'm not getting bald." Aiko's eyes widened slightly and her face turned as pale as a ghost as I said that. "Please, don't EVER do that Yume!" I couldn't help it but laugh at Aiko's face and her words. "Don't worry. I would never do that. I love my hair too much to get rid of it."

"Good!" Aiko said and sweat dropped a bit. I giggled at her and looked at myself in the mirror again. The half of my hair had already been cut to shoulder length. It looked a bit weird, since I'm used to the long hair, but I like it. "So, do you like the new clothes we have bought you?" I looked at Aiko in the mirror and nodded with a smile. "I sure do. It feels good to spoil myself a bit for a change." Aiko giggled. "I can imagine."

As I finished at the hairdresser, and I have to say that my hair looks amazing, Aiko and I went to a small cake store to get some cake and something to drink. I ordered some strawberry cake with a bit of chocolate and Aiko ordered some chocolate and banana cake. We both ordered water to drink. We sat down by a table outside the store. I took a small bite of the cake and the flavor of strawberry and chocolate melted on my tongue. "Oh wow. This cake is so delicious. What about your cake Aiko?"  
"My cake is fantastic as well. I told you this place had the best cakes." She said and smiled at me. I giggled lightly and nodded. "You did. Is this cake store new? I haven't seen it before."

"Well, it opened three months ago, so yeah. It's new." My eyes widened just slightly by the fact that the store has been here for 3 months and I haven't even noticed it. "Wow. I really missed out a lot of things since I isolated myself when Aijou died."

"Well… uhm… yeah…" Aiko said and rubbed the back of her head while smiling sheepishly at me. I just smiled back and took another bite of my cake. "Oh my god, oh my god!" I focused my gaze on Aiko and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What? What is it? Did you spot a cute boy or something?" Aiko looked at me and smirked slightly. "Like the sound of that. The old Yume is back! And yeah, kind of. Turn around and look who's looking at you." I turned my head just a bit and peeked from the corner of my eye.

My eyes widened slightly when I saw Gaara behind me, starring at me. I turned my head back and looked at Aiko, having a faint blush on my cheeks. "Why is he starring at me like that?" Aiko shrugged and took a bite of her cake. "I don't know. He has been starring at you for five minutes now." She said with her mouth full of cake. My jaw dropped a bit. "And you first tell me this now?!"

"What? I didn't think he would be standing there for so long." She said and sweat dropped. "Oh dear, he's coming this way." I stiffened in my seat, feeling heat on my cheeks, indicating a blush. "S-seriously?" Aiko nodded and smiled at me. A shadow figure appeared on the table. I could indicate that it was Gaara. "Aren't you the doctor from yesterday?" I turned my head slightly and looked at Gaara with a smile. "Yeah, that's me." He nodded understanding and kept looking at me. "I almost couldn't recognize you. You've got a haircut and dyed your hair." I gave a slight nod and noticed he was looking me in the eyes. "Did uhm… did you want something Gaara?"  
"Yeah. I just wanted to thank you once again."

"For what? For helping Temari?" Gaara shook his head. "No, I'm thankful that you helped her. I want to thank you once again that you helped her even though I was there." I smiled softly at Gaara and nodded. "You're most welcome Gaara."

"I have to go again. See you around Yume." Gaara said and left. "Bye Gaara." I said and looked after him. "Oh god. You totally like him Yume. It's so obvious!" I looked at Aiko as I took a bite of my cake. "It is?"

"Oh yeah, indeed. When you looked at him, it was like you were in another world. I think he likes you too." I raised my eyebrow slightly in disbelief. "Why do you think that?"  
"Yume, think about it. Why else would he come here and thank you again? It was an excuse to get a conversation with you." I just giggled and shook my head. "I don't know about that." We both took the last piece of our cake and was about to leave when my parents suddenly showed up. "M-mom… dad... What are you doing here?"  
"We're here to take you home!" My mother said, making me look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why that?" My mother didn't answer. She just took a hold of my arm and pulled me up from the chair. "Let go of me! I'm not going home!" I managed to shake my arm out of my mother's grip and looked at both of them with narrowed eyes. "You are our daughter! You do as we say!" My father said with a rather harsh tone. "So now you care about me all of a sudden? I'm sorry to break it down to you, but it's too late! I've moved out and I'm NOT coming back!"

"You are obviously out of your mind young lady! You talked with that monster and you know we don't want you to even as much as glance at him! He's dangerous!" My eye twitched as I clenched my fist in pure anger. They just know which buttons to push to make me angry. "He is NOT a monster! He is a human just like we are! I talk to whoever I want to talk to!... and… I like him." My mother and father looked stunned when they heard me say that. They even took a step back. "How can you like the monster, who killed your sister?" My mother asked, looking at me with an expression mixed with shock and sadness. "For the fucking last time! He didn't kill Aijou, I did! For some weird and unexplained reason I turned into a weird creature and killed her!"

They both shook their heads at me. "Why do you still stick to that explanation Yume? We have never in our life seen you turn into a weird creature." I frowned and took a deep, deep breath as I turned around and looked at Aiko. "Let's go home before I do something I will regret." Aiko nodded agreeing. We grabbed our bags, with the clothes we had bought, and passed my parents without saying one more word.

As we got back to the apartment, we threw the bags on the floor and went to the living room. I sighed heavy as I dumped myself down on the couch. "How could they do that? How could they walk up to me and say such things?" Aiko sat down next to me and shrugged while sighing as well. "I don't know Yume. They were really harsh on you. Gaara is definitely not a monster, I saw that today."

"I don't know what to do Aiko."

"Unfortunately, you can't do anything about it Yume. For some reason they just won't admit that Gaara isn't a monster." I nodded slightly and looked at Aiko. "I'm going to bed. I'm tired."

"But I was about to make dinner soon."

"I'm not really hungry." I said as I got up from the couch. "Okay then. Goodnight."

"Night Aiko." I made my way to the bedroom and dumped down on the bed. I sighed heavy again and closed my eyes, drifting into sleep.


End file.
